One of my friends wanted to buy either a Nokia or a Samsung handset for under Rs 10,000. I suggested the Samsung Galaxy Ace, thinking he would like the brand. However, after considering Nokia Lumia 510 and other handsets, he ended up with a Micromax Canvas II. You might find it strange, but the Canvas II has such a spectacular feature list that it is difficult to ignore. So this time, we are comparing the Samsung Galaxy Ace with the Micromax Canvas II, both of which are identically priced at around Rs 10,000.
Looks and display
Clearly, the Canvas II is bigger, broader and heavier with its 76.5 x 147 x 9.7 mm dimensions, against Galaxy Ace’s 59.9 x 112.4 x 11.5 mm size. And why not? The Canvas II comes with a huge 5 inch touchscreen while the Ace has a 3.5 inch display. Apart from the bulging camera unit, the Micromax has an otherwise good body: it has a textured rear panel for good grip and even the plastic used in its body doesn’t have a cheap feel. The Canvas II’s display also has a decent 854 x 480 pixel resolution, which is not great but has nonetheless become a norm for such huge displays in this price bracket. 
The device has good viewing angles as well. On the other hand, the Galaxy Ace has 320 x 480 pixel resolution, which is also good considering its small screen size. Viewing angles are also good in Canvas II. So if you want a bigger screen, the choice is quite clear.
Camera
In this regard too the Canvas II seems to have an upper edge. It comes with dual cameras – an 8 megapixel unit in the rear and a 0.3 megapixel unit in the front. There are two LED flashes beside the rear camera. The Samsung Galaxy Ace, meanwhile, has a 5 megapixel rear camera with LED flash. There is no front facing camera in its front. It comes with 2X Digital Zoom facility against Canvas II’s 4X. 
Though numbers are heavily against the Micromax handset, do not think that the Canvas II provides images like a regular 8 megapixel camera. However, that does not mean the images captured by Canvas II are crap; with its 8 megapixel, the Canvas II’s rear camera produces images that are comparable to those with a 5 megapixel unit. “The pictures taken through Canvas II are decent, especially in the daylight. The presence of dual LED means you can take closer shots even in low light. However, the pictures lack sharpness and thus Canvas II definitely won’t appeal to people who are keen on photography,” our reviewer Nilabh Jha opined in his review of Micromax Canvas II.
Operating system and processor
The Micromax Canvas II comes with a dual core processor with 1 GHz clockspeed, while the Samsung smartphone has an 832 MHz ARM11 processor. Clearly, the figures are in favour of the Micromax smartphone, but we do think that both the handsets perform equally well. Also, the Micromax handset has Android Ice Cream Sandwich pre-installed. 
On the other hand, Samsung Galaxy Ace has Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and is most likely not to get the ICS. This is a clear disadvantage as ICS is said to be more user friendly, fast and as the latest version it is more likely to be compatible with applications.
Battery
The Canvas II has a bigger display and hence it has a bigger battery as well. According to Micromax, the 2000 mAh battery in Canvas II provides talktime of up to five hours on 2G networks. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy Ace has a smaller profile and hence its 1350 mAh battery provides 11 hours of talktime on 2G.
Others
Both handsets have connectivity features like WiFi with hotspot functionality, Bluetooth, 3.5 mm jack, GPS with A-GPS, and micro USB port. However, Samsung Galaxy Ace has an additional DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) feature, which enables sharing of digital media between multimedia devices.
The Canvas II is a dual SIM feature, and that certainly gives it some advantage over Galaxy Ace, which only has a single SIM slot. It also has 2 GB Internal Memory and a storage slot for up to 32, against Galaxy Ace’s 158 MB internal and 32 GB expandable memory.
Conclusion
If you are brand conscious, then this comparison is useless for you. However, if you want a big screen with decent features, then we would suggest that you go for the Canvas II. 
We have been using it for quite some time and are happy with its performance and looks. If you are considering the Galaxy Ace, we would recommend that you see the users’ comments in our earlier stories.